Card display unit



10, 1940- s. L. ABBOTT ET AL .224586 CARD DISPLAY UNIT Filed. Feb. 4,1939 Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES CARD DISPLAY UNIT Samuel L.Abbott and Daniel Abbott, Ashland, Mass.

Application February 4 1939, Serial No. 254,651

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a card display unit.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel card display unitwhich may be manufactured at minimum expense and which may be used withadvantage to display cards for various advertising and merchandisingpurposes in different angular positions.

With this object in View and such others as may hereinafter appear, theinvention consists in the card display unit, and in the various otherstructures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter describedand particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a card displayunit embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevationof one of the end members showing the card receiving grooves in theinner face thereof; Fig. 3 is a plan view in cross-section on the line3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the card display unitillustrating a card displayed in a right angular or vertical position,Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a card displayed in adifferent angular position; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation showing acard displayed in still another angular position, the card being shownin cross-section.

In general, the present card display unit comprises two end pieces ormembers preferably of wood, each provided on its inner face with aplurality of card receiving grooves angularly disposed with respect toone another. Each end piece is provided with at least two bearingsurfaces arranged with respect to said grooves whereby to enable a cardsupported between the end pieces with the ends of the card disposed incorresponding grooves to be conveniently displayed in at least twodifferent angular positions. The end pieces may and preferably will beof triangular shape and the grooves disposed near the marginal edgesthereof. Preferably the grooves are arranged to intersect slightly belowthe apex of the triangle and to merge into a common entrance or mouthportion through which the cards may be conveniently inserted into eithergroove. 'Byturning the end pieces to cause them to rest on the severalsides of the triangle or upon the base, a series of angular displaypositions for the card disposed in each set of grooves may be secured.

Referring to the drawing, the end members I0, l2 are herein representedas triangular pieces, preferably made of wood and each having cardreceiving grooves l4, l6, out upon the inner face thereof. The groovesI4, [6 are disposed near the marginal edges of at least two sides of thetriangular pieces so that the resulting grooves are angularly disposedwith respect to one another. One of the angles of each of the triangularpieces ii]. l2 may preferably be a right angle so that in use, when theend pieces rest upon the base portion l8 of the triangular members, thecard 20 is supported along its edges in an upright or vertical positionin the grooves M as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.

When it is desired to display the card in a different angular position,the card may be inserted between the angular grooves It, as illus-.trated in Fig. 5. It will be observed that the grooves 14, i5 intersectslightly below the apex 22 of the right angled triangle and to mergeinto a common entrance or mouth portion 2 3 by way of which the cardsmay conveniently be inserted into either set of grooves M or it. It willbe apparent that cards may be displayed in either set of grooves at onceif desired.

It will be observed that the card 29 may be displayed in other angularpositions than those illustrated as, for example, the unit illustratedin Fig. 4 may be turned to cause the end pieces to rest upon the bearingsurfaces 26 whereupon the card will assume a different angular position.Likewise, the unit illustrated in Fig. 5 may be turned to cause the endpieces to rest upon the bearing surfaces 28 to display the card 26 in adifferent position. It is also proposed to use the present unit as abackground or enclosure for various small articles of merchandise and tobe used in this manner, the unit shown in Fig. 4 is simply turned aroundso that the side members l0, l2 extend forward. With the unit faced inthis position, an article of merchandise may be displayed within theenclosure formed by the card and the forwardly extending end pieces I0,l2.

From the above description of the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, it will be observed that a card may be displayed in twodifferent angular positions in each set of grooves I4, [6 by simplyturning the unit over to rest on a different bearing surface thus addingto the convenience and utility of the unit and constituting a; 45feature appreciated by a merchant in that only one set of card displayunits is required to display cards at different angles when it isdesired to vary the display of merchandise and the associated cards. Itwill also be observed that the present display unit is simple inconstruction and lends itself to being manufactured at a minimumexpense.

Other similar and analogous uses may be made of the unit hereinillustrated and described for various advertising and merchandisingpurposes and while the preferred form of the invention has been hereinillustrated and described it will be understood that the invention maybe embodied in other forms defined by the following claims withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. Although the present carddisplay unit has been described herein as being preferably made of wood,it is not desired to limit the invention in this respect, since inpractice, other materials may be used such as catalin, Bakelite,Celluloid products and various plastic materials and the invention maybe practiced with any other material which may prove of advantage.Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. A card display unit comprising two triangular spaced wooden endpieces each having at least two unequal angles and each provided on itsinner face with card receiving grooves extending parallel to andadjacent the edges of the end pieces which correspond to two sides ofthe triangle, the remaining side of each end piece forming a bearingsurface whereby to enable a card supported by corresponding grooves tobe displayed in at least two different angular display positions.

2. A card display unit comprising two triagular shaped end pieces eachhaving at least two unequal angles and each provided on its inner facewith a card receiving groove extending parallel to and adjacent one sideedge of said end pieces, the remaining side edges forming bearingsurfaces whereby to enable a card supported by said grooves to bedisplayed in at least two different angular display positions by turningsaid end pieces so as to rest on different side edges.

3. A card display unit comprising two rightangled triangular shaped endpieces, each provided on its inner face with a card receiving grooveextending parallel to and adjacent one of the side edges forming theright angle, the remaining side edges forming bearing surfaces wherebyto enable a card supported by said grooves to be displayed in either avertical or non-vertical position by turning said unit so as to restupon different bearing surfaces.

4. A card display unit comprising two triangular shaped end pieces eachhaving at least two unequal angles and each provided on its inner facewith two card receiving grooves extending parallel to and adjacent theside edges of said triangular shaped end pieces which correspond to twosides of the triangle, all three side edges forming bearing surfaceswhereby to enable a 5 card supported by corresponding grooves to bedisplayed in a plurality of different angular display positions.

5. A card display unit comprising two rightangled triangular shaped endpieces, each pro- 10 vided on its inner face with two card receivinggrooves extending parallel to and adjacent the side edges of saidtriangular shaped end pieces which correspond to two sides of thetriangle, all three side edges forming bearing surfaces where- 15 by toenable a card supported by corresponding grooves to be displayed ineither a vertical or a plurality of non-vertical positions by turningsaid end pieces so as to rest on different side edges.

6. A card display unit comprising two triangu- 20 lar shaped end pieceseach having at least two unequal angles and each provided on its innerface with two card receiving grooves extending parallel to and adjacentthe side edges of said triangular shaped end pieces which correspond to5 two sides of the triangle, said grooves intersecting at one end andforming a common entrance mouth at their point of intersection for thereception of a card, all three side edges forming bearing surfaceswhereby to enable a card sup- 30 ported by corresponding grooves to bedisplayed in a plurality of different angular display positions.

7. A card display unit comprising two triangular shaped end pieces eachhaving at least two 35 unequal angles and each provided on its innerface with two card receiving grooves angularly disposed with relation toeach other and. forming two pairs of card receiving grooves, one pair ofgrooves extending parallel to and adjacent one 40 of the side edges ofsaid triangular shaped end pieces, and the second pair of groovessimilarly arranged with respect to a different side edge of said endpieces, all three side edges forming bearing surfaces whereby to enablea card supported 45 by corresponding grooves to be displayed in aplurality of different angular display positions.

SAMUEL L. ABBO'I'I.

DANIEL ABBO'I'I.

